CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Well, today’s words happened. The day started slowly, but I caught myself falling into the old pattern of distraction, and moved straight into writing. I not only did extra words on the latest Life Goes On book, but I also managed to catch up the words that I didn’t make yesterday on Long Hair—and finished the book. It is now waiting editing… and maybe a new cover. Long Hair #1 Michael hauled himself through the railings as the two girls moved away to crouch in the shadow of a tall structure rising up from the deck. It looked like someone had stuck a three-storey building on the deck, but Mr. Kembo had called it a bridge castle. At the time, Michael had thought it was a weird name, but, crouching next to it, he decided it made sense. The whole thing was a bit like a small castle. He was very glad he didn’t have to climb that, too. He crouched down by the railing, until Joe came into view, and then helped him through, before they ran over to join the girls. Life Goes On #...

Yesterday, the words went slow. I struggled to adapt to the new writing routine, and how to fit things in. Honestly, there are days when I want to give up and ‘just go with the flow’ so to speak, but I can’t. I need to make the new routine work, and I’m told that takes time and persistence. So, Day 5 of the new routine was a struggle, but words got done on two of the four projects. Today, I’m going to do better. Long Hair #1 She had kept her eyes on Mr. Kembo as she’d answered Michael’s question, and she didn’t take them from the oni’s face while she waited for his response. Mr. Kembo didn’t look very happy, but he didn’t say ‘no’ straight away. Michael followed Helena’s gaze, aware that everyone was watching Mr. Kembo, and waiting for his reply. Helena had a point. If her mother was unconscious, and she could wake her up, then they’d need her. None of them was strong enough to carry her out of a ship. Mr. Kembo returned the young siren’s stare. His eyes grew dark wi...

On Tuesday, I had the first words of the day completed by 7 a.m…. and then I wrote a bunch of first words blog posts, so I didn’t get started on the worlds for Long Hair until after lunch. Of course, once I got writing, I came to a fight scene and had to research how some of the moves might be countered, which led to other fighting techniques that were useful to know for my adult science fiction It wasn’t until after 5 p.m. that I really got down to it. Talk about your slow beginnings! Long Hair #1 Knowing that Mr. Caswell needed her alive, didn’t make him feel any better. Michael ran after the net, but stopped as soon as he’d crossed the road. It was gone, and Helena’s mother was gone with it. In the meantime, there were more Ninjas to deal with—and Kay Lin and Joe might need help. He ran back to his friends, kicking a Ninja off Joe, as Kay Lin got free of hers. The three of them formed a triangle, facing off against half a dozen Ninjas on each side. It didn’t look...

On Monday, I realised that I hadn’t built a glossary, or series ‘bible’, for my current fantasy series, and I spent quite a bit of time going back to the first book for important details like the king’s name, the naming convention for the sea elves, the name of the elven land, little things like that. Note to future self: always build a glossary of terms, names and whatever as you go; it saves a tonne of time later. As a result of having to do that research, I ran out of time to work on Mack ‘n’ Me ‘n’ Odyssey #4 . Here are the first words from Monday: The Priestess, the Prince & the Dragon’s Children Tarquin breathed a sigh of relief, and then came and stretched out beside me. I looked up at where he had propped himself on one elbow and was looking down at me. He reached across me with one hand, brushing a stray lock of hair out of my face, and stroking my cheek. “I love you,” he said, and I smiled, feeling the unexpected prickle of tears at the edge of my eyes. ...